I have had mild tinnitus for about 20 years now. It gets worse if I've seen a loud gig, or if I'm stressed but I know I'm very lucky in that I normally don't notice it unless I'm somewhere with very little background noise. I know from previous threads that quite a few of us suffer with this to a greater or lesser extent.

Losing even more of my hearing would be a profoundly awful experience for me. The idea is simply dreadful.

Imagine how much worse it would be if you were a professional musician?

Mark Kelly, keyboard player in Marillion, recently suffered from something called 'SSHL' or Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss, seemingly after something happened when he was snorkelling. As he got back on the boat, his ears started ringing and three days later he was completely deaf in one ear.

He's blogged about it here: http://markke11y.blogspot.com/

Hopefully a few people might be interested to know that there's a new Dead Can Dance Live EP available free from:

http://app.topspin.net/store/artist/14133?awesm=t.opsp.in_19Wty&w=500&th...

Apparently there's already been two previous free live EPs since September, but I've managed to miss them. D'oh!

Our current shower gel, entitled "Winter", smells of "Black Cherries and Almonds". I'm not sure I would have chosen it had I been doing the shop, but it's not actually unpleasant even if it is rather like washing with gloopy mulled wine. I do wonder who thought "Now that's what people want their shower gel to smell of!" though.

What's the most unlikely fragrance you've seen?

This also reminds me of one of our most popular in-car games; fantasy crisp flavours (yes, the miles just race by). The rules are very simple; name the most horrible crisp flavour imaginagble. No references to bodily fluids or the obviously rude (players include a three and four year old). Past examples include; "Ice Cream and Fish Fingers", "Beef and Boiled Banana" and "Existential Dread and Chives".

Any more?

I know it's waaaaay too early, but I have just learned that for the last working day before Christmas, we will be having Christmas songs playing in the office. We are invited to make contributions to the playlist. Slade has already been suggested by four different people, and Wizzard have come up twice.

I don't intend to be a total curmugeon about this, but I'd greatly appreciate the Massive's assistance with some genuinely good but less well known songs (Brooce's SCiCtT does not count as obscure) to balance out what will otherwise be "The Greatest Christmas Album Ever" on repeat.

Some that I've already thought of putting forward are:

Santa Claus Go Straight To The Ghetto - James Brown
The St Stephen's Day Murders - Thea Gilmore
Winter's Carol - Tori Amos
Whatever Happened to Christmas - Aimee Mann
Gaudette - Steeleye Span

Not sure if I should recommend Rob Halford's "Get Into the Spirit", but it is very funny...

Your suggestions?

JohnW posted about a free Loose Records sampler on Amazon the other day. While poking about I discovered a 19 tracks 'best of' from the folk and world music specialists and it's rather good.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/ARC-Music-35th-Anniversary-1976-2011/dp/B005URE5...

Sorry to post a techy question, but is anyone else unable to use the Track option at the moment?

David Simon recently delivered the 2011-12 Frank Porter Graham Lecture, entitled "The End of the American Century and the Triumph of Capital Over Labor."

It's grim and blunt and fascinating reading. Worth checking the comments too; there's some dispute about the accuracy of some of the article.

David Simon warned Monday night that America's "great engine is beginning to rust," the middle class is being destroyed, the poor are cast aside and the sale of the political system to the highest bidder along with wars on drugs and the Middle East spell the end of the country's ability to lead and prosper.

"We basically said, 'As much of our political system as you’d like to buy, feel free,'" Simon said. "Nothing buys stupidity like money in this country. ... That means our political process is stupid, and our TV is stupid."

No one is going to confuse Simon, the screenwriter and director for The Wire, Treme and Homicide: Life on the Street, for an optimist.

"Every time I try to reach a level of cynicism that goes too far, I find out I've been outmaneuvered," he said.

Rest: http://www.indyweek.com/artery/archives/2011/09/27/bricks-will-be-thrown...

Here's a taster of what Lou Reed and Metallica have been working on...

For my money, the best bits are those that sound like Metallica (and a half-arsed Metallica at that), but I'm not warming to any of it much.

I met John Helmer of The Piranhas and Pookiesnackenburger yesterday and discovered we both grew up in the borough of Southend. John revealed that when he started at Westcliff High School for Boys, Wilco Johnson was one of the prefects.

Your incongruous fact about a popstar, please? Facts that don't fit the public image.

Caveats galore but it's being widely rumoured that Kate Bush is set to release a new studio album on Nov. 21 (EMI Germany seem to have Nov 18th down).

EMI Music Australia's chairman has said, "Of course, you can never be sure with Kate Bush. She does things at her own pace. But we’ve been told to prepare for a November release."

Other rumors:

* The album consists of 7 songs, each of them over 12 minutes in length (which must surely tickle the progbone..?)
* The album includes a duet.
* The first single is called "Wild Man".

I've just had a call from my wife to tell me she has dropped our immaculately uniformed four-year-old off for her first day at infants school. As demanded by statute, there were tears from both sides of the school gates.

As for me, I am struck by the hoary old cliché of it all having gone so fast. So, in line with my blog title, may I ask for songs about it all going so fast.

Here's Rush (ft the wonderful Aimee Mann) with "Time Stand Still":

(You know you're in trouble when even Rush look youthful.)

"If you're going to judge a man's entire body of music from only hearing two songs, then quite frankly, your opinion has no worth." - Zanti Misfit (Nilsson thread)

It's not that I disagree with the principle, but I suspect that we all routinely judge artists on a very few songs. Indeed, I'm reasonably sure that most of us have dismissed artists without ever hearing a note but because it is obvious that they are part of a particular musical genre.

I intensely dislike 'Without You' because I had a weekend job during my sixth form years where it was played on a constant loop and I wouldn't comment on a Nilssson thread because I don't know enough about the man and I know my opinion is worthless, but that exerience was enough to put me off.

My potential loss, obviously, but given how much music is out there, don't we all make similarly snap judgements all the time?

By DJ Schmolli. Ace.

Not an ABBA thread - any experts on probability?

This morning, I took part in an online BBC experiment about risk. If you fancy doing it yourself, the link is: https://www.bbc.co.uk/labuk/experiments/risk/

If you're planning on taking part yourself, don't read the comments, as I give one of the answers away.

but especially for 1:00 - 1:20.